


Meditations in Green

by Silberias



Category: Jodhaa-Akbar (2008)
Genre: F/M, Tooth Rotting Fluff, forgive me any incorrect information about religion!, some angst because of course there is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-07 16:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17369324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silberias/pseuds/Silberias
Summary: Green means something otherworldly to both of them.To Jodhaa it means the Mughal invaders.To Jalal it means paradise.





	1. Green Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched Jodhaa-Akbar this past weekend...twice...and half yesterday...and half today. So I am in a word obsessed. Having torn through all 27 fics in the tag now I am here with my own meager offerings. Please enjoy this little three-shot!

His eyes were green.

She'd heard that some Mughals bore unearthly colorings but looking into his face as she spoke with him alone was startling. His face was long and the angles of it were sharp enough to cut, so unlike the faces she'd grown up around in Amer. Her sons, if she wed him, if her demands were not outrageous enough, would look back at her with eyes of eternal springtime. And they would not be raised as she and Sujamal and Bhagwan Das had been, they would be Muslim. Their nurses would muffle their ears to her prayers for their health and happiness and strength.

If at the end of all this she only retained Lord Krishna for herself that would have to be enough--all her other honor would be stripped away, bound to perhaps be alone for six lifetimes after the death of her husband. She would not weep over that now though, not when her wedding and all its own sorrows loomed.

Outside the Emperor announced that her demands were only requests, and ones that he would meet for her gladly. He showed he onlyhoped for her gladness, not for their mutual happiness. Perhaps he also knew that ill winds blew when a Mughal emperor took a Rajput princess to wife. 


	2. Green Walls

His wife had asked for a temple for her god--she'd even had the decency to call it an idol to him, a concession he sensed was not easily given by such a proud lady--and he had granted her wish. He had no wish for his marriage to be fraught with more unhappiness that was its due. He had chosen to keep his hand for himself for so long because he knew it would be given to a stranger eventually, had long ago accepted that there would be some amount of discord until husband and wife were better acquainted.

That did not mean he was entirely without hope that his wife might choose to convert on her own. The Prophet had been the first to know and understand Allah; all others had come to know and submit to Allah's will based on the Prophet's teachings and examples.

So he ordered accents in her chambers be painted green. His wife would be sheltered within the colors of paradise, even if they would be forever separated after their (hopefully long hence) deaths.

Now, though, he quietly prayed in the pre-dawn light while his new wife slept on unaware that he was leaving for Malwa with the sunrise. He prayed they would come to understand each other, and he prayed she found her temple to her satisfaction and did not take offense at his leaving her so soon after their wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it or need to correct something please let me know, either way!


	3. A Green Start

Allah had not given him his letters in order to keep him humble, the child heir of a great empire. Bairam Khan Baba had been gentle when he explained that Jalal could choose to continue to struggle with learning letters, letters of any kind, and be a failed ruler for the distraction--or, he could submit to the fate that Allah had planned for him and trust his advisors more than any  Mughal ruler before him.

It meant he had to learn to be careful with his heart, but to also put his whole heart in his beliefs. There could be little to no recourse to his decisions, no introspective time alone to review his papers. He would have to be resolute and worthy of trust for he would be required to trust first.

Jalal grew to take betrayals harder than many men because of it. He'd given them a piece of his heart, entrusted them to keep it safe.

When Jodhaa tried to help him with his letters he was as gentle as Bairam Khan Baba had been when Jalal had only been a child--and he gave the last piece of his heart to her as he did so, stroking the back of his forefinger down her cheek, gazing at his beloved and feeling peace well up inside him.

"My light, why bring us both pain trying to divert the will of Allah? Why do so when you are here, so close to my heart that I can lay my head on your knee as you read to me? Besides, you are _Mallika-e-Hindustan_ and deserve an equal part in ruling the empire. What better way for the Emperor to know the needs, little wants, and even pains of his people than from the lips of his wife?"

Jodhaa looked away, blushing, but did not pull away from him. She rarely did anymore, finding something in him worth trusting herself to. Sometimes feeling the weight of her heart caused him pain, reminding him of the long road they'd walked together in such a short time.

"Lord Krishna teaches us to be brave in the face of adversity," she said softly, her eyes far away, "but he also wishes for marital bliss between man and wife."

"He has ten thousand wives, your Lord Krishna--perhaps I ought to follow his example?" Jalal grinned when she gasped and smacked him for his impertinence, huffing when he tried to sooth her with a kiss. Still she did not pull away from him.

"...Lord Krishna's wives number sixteen thousand and eight," she muttered, a small petulant turn of her lip. Jalal twitched another smile while giving a low whistle, chuckling when she played at frowning at him again. He couldn't resist how his grin widened, stroking her cheek once again--slower this time, to enjoy how soft she was.

"And your Lord Krishna trembles in jealousy that you are not his sixteen thousand and ninth bride, but mine and my only, stolen by Allah as a gift to me, poor though I am, to adorn my green paradise," he murmured, pleased for the distraction from his letters and pleased to tease her in this gentle way. Jodhaa shifted closer to him, tucking her head under his chin. Now that she would not see his own blushing he added:

"And your sons will be my sons."

"Perhaps their eyes will be green, like yours," she whispered against his throat and Jalal felt an exquisite joy bloom in his chest at her soft words. When he'd married her he had hoped for small conversations like this--despite leaving the palace in a furor over Jodhaa's almost full-time occupation of his rooms, surrounded by peaceful emerald walls, it was always worth their consternation to feel her soft breath at his throat, the weight of her body tucked against his own.

"I pray they are as forthright and dignified as their mother is, with the same clear vision and convictions. But Jodhaa...I only hope you never give me a daughter."

Jodhaa stilled against him, frozen and startled and confused. He held her tighter in response and softly explained.

"Surely Allah would strike me dead if I were to give away your daughter to some stranger. How your father ever gave you away to such a man as I, I know not," Jalal said, his voice almost too low to hear as he shifted so he could look once more on his wife's face, "for my part I will never again part with as precious and bright a gem as you, my Jodhaa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! Thank you for reading!


End file.
